Sneak Peek Upcoming SimpleSeps Raster Update

[AdvancedArtist]

Just a little peek don't want to share the user interface yet or some other details but some of you will get this I am sure.... The release coming with this update will sep colors and even lets say... you have reds but want to use 3 reds.. It can sep your colors such as the reds or any other color into a form of Sepias you have absolute control over all of the color(s) so if you want to do super high end 10 or 12 colors seps they are nailed down and then you can go in and dynamically dial in your seps. Each plate in the sep will have dot gain settings you can set up for the system after running a few multicolor test prints. If you already are a user this update and others will be free to you when they are released.

Sneak Peek Simple Seps Raster R&D Live Dynamic Simulated Process Color Separations

[Screened Gear]

Tom,

I consider you a friend so I will be honest with you. There has never been a time I wanted to make one red into 3 reds. Now if there is a feature that will take a 8 color design and combine the 5 of the colors into one screen with out effecting the final print that would be cool. I get that "need" from customers a lot.

[AdvancedArtist]

The sepias in color comes into play in a couple of ways.. Lets say you have reds but some of the red is under the 30% in K or grey scale. If you print that as halftones the color may not pop as much as say printing with pink for that region blending into your medium and darker reds. Especially when the halftone dots are falling under the 10 to 15% range which some shops may not even be able to hold but printed as a pink above the 15% K or grey scale halftone dot range bam you hold the color and do not have to deal with the small red dots making the illusion of pink some of which you may not be able to hold especially in long runs like hundreds or thousands of shirts. I hope that makes sense.

The need you talk of is also very addressable if you want to go over some of that with me please fell free to send me some of the files you have had with this need and we can do a screen cast meeting and talk about that and examine some options.

[AdvancedArtist]

For example this image....

http://www.tomwoodfantasyart.com/images/category_shadow_demon001.jpg

It can be done in a number of ways for the highest end print you would would want a soft pink blending into regular red then a darker red plus black and white... Especially when there are not other colors in the design. This is where total control and complete separation options come in to play.

[JBLUE]

You do bring up one very important point about the size of the dot most shops can or hold or what they think they are holding. Most printers are not truly dialed in to what a real 15% dot is. What they think is a 15% is really a 25 maybe even a 30% dot. So until they fix that they will not be able to get the real benefits of what you are doing.

Are you making anything that can compensate for a lets say somewhat average dot gain that may be experienced on film before it ever makes it to the press?

[AdvancedArtist]

1.A perfect halftone / index test pattern with % points and gradients, fine lines, text etc... various angles / LPI / DPI FM patterns etc...    This is the starting point to measure the following "Dot-Shift Quality Control" --- just as you asked this first point is from the Digitally generated RIP, to the FILM.    What changed or "shifted" from the RIP to the Film version?

2.  Next "QC" point to be measured is what shifts from the FILM to the "PREPARED SCREEN".   (before you put the ink in and it's on press.. there can be issues in the way it's been cured from the film.    In fact this is one of the worst areas for small shops who are sold the low-end exposure units that use diffuse lighting that cannot hold halftones and details, the cure times are too long, etc.)  -- Screen mesh used and emulsion, film dot density, exposure type and time, all this will affect what is transferred from the FILM to the SCREEN.

3.  The final "QC" point for the dot-gain/shift/loss... is what changes from the "PREPARED SCREEN" to the "PRINT" with the ink, pressures, etc all dialed in accordingly... Squeegees, screen tension, ink variables like viscosity and opacity, hue/sat/brightness of the result etc... this all plays into certain aspects of the print... but for the most part just holding the right halftones on each screen is key to getting the mixes to work out reliably.   


Measuring those 3 points and seeing what you end up with, you can go backwards and create your overall custom compensation curves with any amount of clipping, pushing, pulling in whatever regions you need to try and do what is the only job of a "color separator" which is to do the pre-press technician's role in most offset shops.  Account for the press variables using the simulations of your ink-mix mode.   

It's just that in screenprint yes we have a lot of other complex variables like substrate colors and ink opacities and whites etc... but this is all math.   

 Art is what happens built up as an RGB-Alpha document over your substrate color (should not really be created in the art) - but you can have your alpha fade any colors to your shirt colors and have them based or not, mixed with the shirt color or not, etc.   

But this should all be in full RGB gamuts with alpha transparency over chosen shirt colors so you can easily mock up on various products.   But even if a shirt color is stuck in a document there are easy ways to pull it back to trans.

Art is the creative process that no machine can ever do, of course.

Printing is the attempt to make exact copies of that original design or pattern.

Separation?  It's a mathematical process based on your input/output variables.   It has already been completely automated in the world of digital off-set printing.   Take a vacation to Xerox PARC, they are lightyears beyond screenprinting's technology.   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PARC_(company)

http://www.xerox.com/digital-printing/digital-printing-press/color-printing/xerox-igen4/spec-enus.html#yscroll_300

[starchild]

I can't imagine what shop/studio wouldn't want that level of control. Complexity out.. Competency in..

What is being accomplished there so far, is what most shops call the heavy hitters in to do. The 3 reds. The 5 color, halftone-spot color job.
Those are the kind of seps used for award winning prints.

I wanted the ability to do those kind of pulls manually because separation studio wouldn't do it or other actions I've used won't satisfactory, all automated with it's own limited brain. Tom and Jeff if your tools are giving the user ability of complete control of re engineering the image, then it's a winner in my book.